You have won an internet poll, advance to Eyre Square

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Written by Staff Reporter

Wednesday, 03 October 2007

House prices in Galway may be stagnant, but the county’s stock on the Monopoly board is rising, as the county has replaced Westmoreland Street on the first all-Ireland monopoly board.

Galway is one of 22 lucky counties to feature on the new board, which was launched this week at an event in Dublin Castle.

County Galway received 6,965 public votes and takes up its position on an orange square, replacing Westmoreland Street on the original board. The county is represented by a picture of Eyre Square.

Roscommon took the top spot and replaces Shrewsbury Road in the coveted top location with over 17,500 votes. Cork (over 13,500 votes) is in second place, taking the Ailesbury Road site with Waterford (10,792 votes), Limerick (9,974 votes) and Wexford (9,499 votes) taking ownership of the green spots.

A nationwide internet poll took place between 26 April and 25 May this year, and thousands of fans voted for their home county, as there was only room for 22 counties to feature. After four weeks, almost 170,000 votes had been cast.

Dublin (9,322 votes) had a slow start but public campaigns and rallies ensured that the capital features and takes the North Earl Street position. Waterford (10,792), the home of Monopoly, can be found on the old Grafton Street location.

The online vote was a 32 county initiative and Northern counties Fermanagh (6,377 votes), Tyrone (4,993 votes) and Down (4,767 votes) have been rewarded their place on the board.

“For over 70 years the Monopoly board has represented the most valuable locations in Dublin, but the new All-Ireland board was decided on the passion of its people rather than the cost of property. To secure any one of the 22 spots on the new All-Ireland version of the world’s most famous game is a great achievement,” said Anne Dermody, National Sales Manager of Hasbro.

As expected, inter-county rivalry was rife with locals, county councils and Monopoly lovers getting behind the vote, ensuring that each county had its best chance of being featured on the board.

Each person was allowed one vote per day, however over enthusiastic efforts to boost the poll through multiple voting did not go unnoticed by Hasbro who were watching very carefully. Once voting was over, all votes were checked and only verified votes were counted.

Monopoly is produced at Hasbro’s plant in Waterford where 1.5 million Monopoly boards are shipped throughout Europe every year. Since its arrival on the market in 1935, over 200 million Monopoly games have been sold across the world and it has been played by an estimated 500 million people.

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